Kazakh printing houses refuse to print book on January 2022 unrest

24.01.2024, 15:52 exclusive.kz

The planned publication of an independent Kazakh journalist’s book on the January 2022 unrest has been derailed after his publisher’s failure to find a printing house that would agree to print it.

The author, Daniyar Moldabekov announced the upcoming release of the book “Qantar Jyly” (“The Year of January”) on 5 January.

He said on Tuesday that after his announcement the publisher was contacted by “local authorities saying they wanted a summary of the book’s content and the author’s contact details at the request of the security services”.

On Monday the printing house where the book was expected to be published said it was putting off the publication after being contacted by “the law-enforcement bodies”, who requested to see the manuscript, Moldabekov said in a post on his Telegram channel.

The publisher’s attempts to find another printing house have been unsuccessful, Moldabekov said.

“All printing houses they contacted refused to publish the book,” he said.

“That’s according to the publisher. I am inclined to believe them, because they translated the manuscript [into Kazakh], designed the cover, worked on it. I understand, they are frightened now,” Moldabekov added.

“As for me, I am not frightened, and I am determined to get the book published.”

Moldabekov witnessed and covered the 4-6 January 2022 unrest in Almaty for several media organisations.

The book was crowdfunded and was expected to come out in January.

In February 2023, Moldabekov was beaten up by unknown people at the entrance to his apartment block. The police said they were unable to track down the assailants and closed the case the following month.

About 230 people died in the violence that followed days of peaceful rallies across Kazakhstan in January 2022. The protests, which were triggered by a rise in fuel prices, turned violent when they reached Almaty.

President Tokayev’s government said the unrest was a coup attempt by associates of former President Nursultan Nazarbayev. Former security chief Karim Masimov and several other officials were tried on charges of treason after the riots.

Civic activists and independent lawyers have accused the government of failing to conduct a thorough and transparent investigation into the unrest, particularly the killings of civilians.